Cocaine and Crack

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of seizures of cocaine, in the most recent years for which figures are available, was of cocaine entering the United Kingdom from member states of the European Community.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of seizures of cocaine, in the most recent years for which figures are available, was of cocaine entering the United Kingodm from member states of the European Community.

Provisional figures for 1989 indicate that, of a total of 402 seizures (424 kg) of cocaine by Customs, 27 per cent. by numbers of seizures (62.8 per cent. by weight) were known to have been consigned from or routed through other member states of the European Community. This includes one seizure of 153 kg which originated in Ecuador and arrived at Southampton via Le Havre. The origin of a further 20 per cent. approximately, of the total number of seizures of cocaine by Customs was not known or not recorded. These figures may be compared with 1988 figures showing that fewer than 5 per cent. by number (1.5 per cent. by weight) of cocaine seizures by Customs were known to have originated from or arrived in the United Kingdom via other EC countries. (The figures exclude seizures of cocaine made by the police, for which the country of origin is not generally known.)